Harry Potter and the Otherworld Archway
by Brightstarr-Bella
Summary: Harry's back at Hogwarts again for his sixth year, and already the fiascos have begun... dealing with Voldemort, the Order of the Phoenix, and his various adolescent moods, life is getting pretty complicated. To make matters worse, he is faced with the hu


**Harry Potter and the Dormiens Archway**

AN: Anything recognized here is from JK Rowling, however the plot is mine, you know the drill.

**Chapter 1: Hedwig's Return**

Harry Potter, of Number 12 Grimmauld place, awoke with a smile on his face. Propping himself to one elbow, it took him a couple seconds just to remember why he was happy. Arising, he threw off the covers and opened the curtains wide to allow the warm London sun to heat his face. In the bed beside his, his friend Ron mumbled discontentedly at being woken up. "Harry…" he moaned. "Shut the curtains." Harry grinned at the sight of his sleepy, hair tousled friend. This was the first he had been so happy since… well… since Sirius had died. He felt the smile fade away. A moment ago he had been overjoyed because this was the first morning he had woken up away from the Dursleys, at the premises of the Order of the Phoenix. He looked at the picture beside Ron's bed. All the Weasleys beamed back at him, even Percy, who had sidled back into the picture following Fudge's announcement that Voldemort had indeed returned.

Mrs. Weasley was still not happy. Although Percy had apologized to the family (Harry was sure that the family was not ready to welcome him back with open arms; Ron and Ginny had looked at him rather like something nasty on the bottom of their shoe; Bill and Charlie simply ignored him, while Fred and George, the most moved of all, muttered threats under their breath. Indeed, it seemed the their father was still harbouring a grudge. Mr. Weasley looked so stiff as he hugged Percy that he looked fit to snap. Only Mrs. Weasley was content, fussing over him and hanging up a banner: Welcome Back, Percy!) she was still quite upset over Fred and George's new business of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. She had long since heard about the twins receiving Harry's Tri-wizard earnings, and although she told Harry she was quite fine with it, she seemed more distant and cold these days.

The house seemed cold and empty without Sirius. Once Mrs. Black had learned that the last of the Blacks had died, she had started laughing maniacally. Harry was so furious at her laughing… laughing at the loss of his beloved godfather that he had sent a reductor curse shooting towards the canvas. Screaming, Mrs. Black disappeared from her charred portrait and had not returned since. Lupin, it seemed, had taken on the role of "you can't have your mother, father, or godfather, but I'll try my best." Frankly, Harry was sick of it. He had lost too much to have someone replace them. Even Snape, if that was possible, had seemed slightly more bearable. The other day he had been close to civil with Harry. "I dunno," Ron had said when Harry voiced his opinion. "Maybe he misses having someone to row with."

Ron had finally dragged himself out of bed. "Come on, Harry," he said drowsily. "Breakfast." They trooped down to the kitchen, Ron traveling at the speed and consistency of molasses. As they entered the kitchen, Ron groaned and covered his eyes. "Too bright," he complained.

"What, you just got up? I've been up for hours," came a familiar voice from the corner of the kitchen. "Well aren't you special," replied Ron testily. Hermione Granger rolled her eyes and continued to read the Daily Prophet. "Here you go, boys," Mrs. Weasley's plump figure bustled into the kitchen and set down two plates of bacon and eggs. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry, just now realizing how hungry he was. "No problem," she said rather coolly and left the kitchen. Mr. Weasley looked up from the newspaper he was reading. "Morning, boys."

"Whatcha reading, Dad?" asked Ron, picking up his food and beginning to shovel it into his mouth. "London Times," his father replied, engrossed in the paper. Ron nearly spit out his food, but swallowed it instead. Hermione looked disgusted. "The London Times?!" he repeated incredulously, spitting bits of egg all over the table. Hermione now looked positively revolted. "But, Dad, that's a Muggle newspaper, that is!" he said. His father looked at him rather pityingly. "Thanks for pointing that out, Ron," he said kindly, and went back to his reading. Ron continued staring at him. For a while Mr. Weasley continued reading, but eventually he lowered the paper. "Yes, Ronald?" he said indulgently. Ron looked highly affronted. "Well, aren't cha gonna tell me why you are reading the Muggle news?" Hermione made a noise of annoyance from the corner. "Oh come on, Ron, isn't it obvious?" Ron now looked thoroughly bewildered. "Er - should it be?" he asked uncertainly. Harry came dangerously close to laughing and shovelled in some bacon to stop himself; contrary to helping, it made him choke.

Hermione looked at Harry with a mingled expression of irritation and amusement. Mr. Weasley set down the paper with a sigh. "Ron, we need to check if you-know-who has attacked anyone that the Muggles have noticed - you know, weird killings or disappearances. Hermione already checked the Daily Prophet for me." Ron's expression changed to one of understanding. "Right," he said indifferently. "I knew that." Hermione shook her head at her dishevelled friend.

"Listen, Fred and George are stopping in today," said Mr. Weasley. Ron's face lit up. "Great!" he said excitedly. "Come on, Harry, Mom wants us to feed Buckbeak today." Rather startled at being pulled out of the kitchen halfway through his meal and so abruptly , Harry followed Ron to another room. "Couldn't we have done this later?" he asked in annoyance. "Well - yes- I suppose so - but listen, Harry-" started Ron eagerly, "Fred and George have developed some amazing new products that they're going to give us free samples of!" He waited expectantly for Harry's reaction. When it did not come, he deflated rather slightly. "Well?"

"Er- nice, Ron, very good."

"Harry, were you listening to me?"

"Products - amazing- free- yes, Ron, yes."

But Harry did not look at Ron when he was saying that, he was too busy staring at a corner of the room. He was sure he had seen a figure there. When Ron realized where he was looking, he swung his head around and squinted in the direction of Harry's gaze. "What're we looking at?" he asked uncertainly. Harry sighed. "Nothing. I just though I saw - I guess… never mind, Ron." Ron looked utterly bewildered but was stopped from asking Harry what he meant behind that cryptic answer by a sharp nip from Buckbeak. "Ouch! Fine, you can have your rats, you-" Ron muttered a lot of foul words under his breath. The two threw some rats to the hippogriff. Harry patted Buckbeak fondly and both left the room. Passing a calendar on the wall, Harry stopped and took out his wand. Waving it, he produced some sparks that burnt a hole through one of the days. "Three more days left until Hogwarts," he said.

"Yah, that reminds me," said Ron, "Mum said we were going to Diagon Alley tomorrow." Harry grinned. "Great." Ron nodded. "Hey, Ron, have you gotten your list yet? Only I haven't gotten mine." Ron looked surprised. "Yes, I got it a couple of days ago. Hasn't Hedwig returned?" Harry shook his head. "She's been gone a week," he said grimly. Ron tried to look concerned but gave up the attempt as he heard the doorbell ring. "Fred and George!" he cried excitedly and ran through the room which used to house Mrs. Black. Harry followed more slowly. Turning the corner, he heard a cry of 'Ouch!' and came round to see Ron's gangly figure sprawled across the floor. "Stupid elephant stand," Ron muttered grumpily, flushing. He then seemed to remember his race for the door because he took off once more. By the time Harry had gotten to the door, Fred and George were being hustled inside by Mrs. Weasley. They were both sweating rather badly from the extreme heat outdoors.

"Fred, what's that?!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley, ready to work herself into a state. Fred was holding a lump of snowy gray feathers that hooted feebly. "Hedwig," whispered Harry in horror. "We found her outside," Fred reported. "She's in a right state, she is," said George unhappily. The owl seemed unable to move, but she finally managed to shakily extend her leg to reveal a letter. Harry tore off his letter, noting it was from the school. Hermione took it from him and put it on the table.

Fred gently passed the mass of feathers over to Harry. Mrs. Weasley looked horrified. "I'll get Remus," she cried, and ran upstairs. Harry walked into the kitchen and placed Hedwig on the table. Ron's father lowered his paper once more. "Eh? What's this? - Harry," he said excitedly. "Is this one of those… muggle feather boas?" Harry sighed. "It's my owl," he said miserably. Mr. Weasley looked bewildered. Hermione hustled up beside Harry and gently prodded at Hedwig. "Well… she's still alive…" she said hopefully.

"What's this about an owl, Harry?" came the voice of Remus Lupin from behind him. The greying young man came up and looked at Hedwig. "Good gracious," he said, his eyes widening. Feeling into the mass of feathers, he gently tried to extend one wing. Hedwig let out a shriek and all of them jumped back. "I'm sorry, Harry," said Lupin, not meeting Harry's eyes. "I'm not losing someone else," Harry said through clenched teeth. Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry for the first time in months with the kind of fondness that she looked at her own children with. "Of course not," she said briskly. "Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, go get your things. We're going to Diagon Alley, we can do our shopping today." Harry opened his mouth in protest, but she held up a hand to silence him. "And take Hedwig to Eeylops Owl Emporium." Satisfied, Harry left Hedwig with Lupin and raced upstairs to grab his stuff. About to enter his room, he stopped as he heard the voices of Hermione and Ron.

"Oh, come on, Ron, this didn't happen naturally," protested Hermione. "Probably flew into a plane," said Ron. "A plane?" Hermione said sceptically. "It's obvious Hedwig's been attacked." Harry's heart skipped a beat. "Attacked? By who?" asked Ron, confused. "I don't know," Hermione sighed, and by the sounds of it flopped on the bed. Harry walked into the room. "Ready to go, guys?" he asked in a false, cheery voice. Hermione looked at Ron with a mixture of annoyance and fondness. Ron nodded. "Yep, I reckon so, mate." When they got down to the kitchen, the emerald flames were already a go, and each stepped into the fire in turn, Harry clutching his mangled owl tightly.

The first stop they made was to the Owl Emporium. Stepping forward, he placed his owl on the counter. "What's this?" asked the man behind the counter in mild annoyance. "My owl," Harry said angrily. The man's heavily tattooed eyes widened in shock. "By God! What've you done to it?!" Harry's temper flared. "She came back from where she was flying in this state." The man's eyebrows narrowed. "Where was she flying to?" Harry replied shortly, "Hogwarts." The man nodded suspiciously. "Well, we might be able to fix her up. I'll let our best, Doctor MicBridge take a crack at her." A man wearing glasses that magnified his eyes to a great size waved from the corner. "Although I dunno whether someone who would let an owl get in this state should be able to keep one," the man continued. "I told you-" Harry started. "Whatever," the man said, holding up a hand to stop him. "Come back in two hours." Harry opened his mouth to start telling the man off but Lupin firmly put his hand on his shoulder and brought him back out to the alley.

The six others waited outside anxiously and looked at Harry expectantly as they exited the shop. "Well?" Ginny said, breaking the silence. "They're not sure whether she'll make it," Harry replied heavily. Ron looked uncomfortable. "Bad luck, mate." Hermione looked at Ron and hissed, "I thought I told you it was not luck." Ron stepped on her foot to stop her. She glared at him but shut her mouth. "Well," said Mrs. Weasley in a valiant attempt to lighten the mood, "why don't we go get your things? And then we can visit Fred and George's premises." Harry nodded sullenly.

If I lose Hedwig, thought Harry, I will not be able to go on. I can't handle losing someone else. Hermione seemed to know what he was thinking. Something inside her made her spontaneously walk over to him and hug him, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. Looking slightly surprised at herself, she stepped back and said, "It'll be fine." Harry's cheeks flared a bright red and he thought that Hermione was not half as shocked as he was. Ron looked over at him and grinned teasingly. Harry punched Ron in the arm and it felt as if it was the same between everyone once more.

The first stop they made was to Flourish and Blotts. "All right, what books do you need?" asked Mrs. Weasley, snapping into her business mode. "Er…" Harry looked through his list. "Standard Book of Spells, Most Potent Potions Book 6, A Drive for Defence, Transfiguration Edition 6 and a book for charms, I can't pronounce its name. Oh," he added, "We also need the whole set of Beatrix Bloxam books." Ron looked bemused. "Wasn't she the author of Toadstool Tales? I heard they got banned." Hermione nodded. "Yes, they were causing nausea and vomiting… but why are you getting Most Potent Potions Book 6? I thought Snape -"

"Professor Snape, dear," said Mrs. Weasley reprovingly.

"Yes, him, I thought he only accepted people who got 'O's on their Owls to go in his class."

"Yep," replied Harry casually, pulling out a Galleon and 6 sickles to pay for his books. Hermione looked amazed. "But… did you get an 'O'?" Ron sent a look at Harry that plainly said "Let her guess for a while." Harry shook his head. "Nope." Hermione looked the most confused the two had ever seen her. "But then-? How? What did you get?"

"E"

"E? But then why did he accept you two?"

"I suppose its because the 4/5 of our class got below an A," said Harry unblushingly.

Hermione looked horrified. "Below an A? My lowest was E and that was in Arithmancy!" Harry shook his head, amused, and accepted the bag that the shop keeper gave to him.

"All done, dearies?" Mrs. Weasley swept up beside them, holding a bursting bag full of Ginny's books. "Yep," Ron answered, and they left the shop. On their way to Fred and George's shop, they passed by Quality Quidditch Supplies and Ron was quickly distracted. Pressing his nose against the window, he stared hungrily at the gleaming new Firebolt in the window. "Still the newest broom," he said enviously to Harry. "Come on, Ron, you just got a new broom," called Fred and George. Harry tore Ron away from the window, leaving behind greasy prints on the window.

Turning a corner in the alley, they came to Fred and George's shop. It seemed like business was already booming for Harry saw many Hogwarts children entering and leaving the shop. "Who's managing the shop?" Harry asked curiously. "Lee Jordan," replied Fred. "He's our business associate." They entered the shop through its swinging door and were met by aisles and aisles of joke products. The floor was sparkling, and the decorating meticulous. "Fred, George…" gasped Mrs. Weasley. "It's wonderful!" Fred smiled happily. "It's our pride and joy." Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry and suddenly seized him in a bone crushing hug. "And you made this all happen to them!" she said tearfully. "Its okay- really-" Harry choked, hardly breathing. Mrs. Weasley finally realized she was strangling him and let go quickly. "Go ahead, explore," said George, waving his hand. "Everything's half off to you." Ron looked as if he was in paradise. "Come on, Harry," he said, dragging Harry down the aisles.

They were met by candies, fireworks, everything a prankster could dream of. In fact, they came across a particular set of fireworks that Harry remembered very well from last year. Ron started laughing uncontrollably remembering the face of Dolores Umbridge as all the rockets shot off around the castle. They also came across some Skiving Snackboxes, something Fred and George were famous for. Harry noticed a new candy right beside it. "Transparency Tablets…" read Harry. "Guaranteed to make you absolutely invisible for up to 6 hours." Ron looked at them but tossed it aside. "You don't need them, you've got your invisibility cloak." Nevertheless, Harry bought two. That was all he bought, but Ron went wild, and bought everything from Blood Blisterpods to Whoopee Cushions. Hermione looked at his bursting bag of supplies and rolled her eyes.

"Well…" Mrs. Weasley said slightly apprehensively. "Should we go check on Hedwig?" Harry's stomach dropped like a stone. For a while, he had actually forgotten about his injured owl. Nervously, he nodded his head. The 8 of them walked down the street, no one talking to Harry, allowing him to comfort himself. She'll be fine, he thought. Taking a deep breath, he and Remus Lupin entered the store and arrived at the counter. "Erm… I'm here to pick up my owl…" said Harry uncertainly. The man surveyed him for a minute and then said, "Alright. Doctor MicBridge healed her up all right, but if you ever let this happen to her again you won't be getting her back." Harry felt himself relax and he let out the breath he had been holding. "Right,:" he said gratefully. The man went behind the counter and brought out an okay but heavily bandaged Hedwig. She hooted at Harry, this time much more strongly. He carefully took his owl and followed Lupin out of the shop.

Seeing Hedwig, the group burst into cheers. Harry didn't join them. Ron and Hermione sensed this and quieted down. They all were thinking the same thing: what could've happened to her in the first place?


End file.
